


Drink

by eugyne (AreteNike)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (minor character death dw), Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Established Relationship, Illustrated, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by The Giver, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Psychosis, Rescue Missions, Shance Big Bang 2017, background kidge, communication issues but they Work Through It, mind control drugs, more like accidental rescues lol, needles n stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 17:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12347370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AreteNike/pseuds/eugyne
Summary: When Lance snuck back into the Kitchen to find the toy his sister had left behind, he didn’t expect to find his long-lost boyfriend breaking in. Nor did he expect to join a rebellion he had no idea existed. And he certainly didn’t expect who was at the center of the drug-controlled “utopia” he’d thought was home.





	Drink

**Author's Note:**

> i had a couple of sensitivity readers look this over but if you feel i have portrayed any element of psychosis wrong please feel free to tell me! also note that there is an in-character depiction of a psychotic episode and if that will bother you, please proceed with caution!
> 
> BIG THANKS to my artist, tumblr user [greensnek!!](https://greensnek.tumblr.com/)

Citizens are not supposed to go out at night.

But, as far as Lance is concerned, it's not _quite_ night yet, and cutting it a little close is worth not listening to little Mari whine all night about her missing toy. Besides, curfew is only a Tier 3 regulation, so if he _is_ still out when the sun has set he'll only be punished in accordance with the level of his transgression.

He'll probably just have to do an hour or two of service, which is also worth not listening to Mari whine all night.

So he jogs down the street, greeting the last few citizens still out as he passes them. The Kitchen will still be open; only the food preparation area has a lock and he's only popping in to grab Mari's toy off the table where she left it.

He can retrieve it and still demonstrate full compliance like a good citizen. Easy peasy.

He pulls open the door in the fading orange light and steps inside. It's empty, which he definitely isn't used to, but that only makes it easier to spot Mari's toy: a faded purple elephant, sitting on a table a few rows in. He starts toward it, and the door swings shut behind him.

There's a small gasp at the noise, and movement out of the corner of Lance's eye, and he turns. There's a man dressed all in black in the shadows at the back of the room, near the food prep entrance.

"Oh, hello," says Lance. "You should hurry! It's almost curfew."

"Lance?" says the man. His voice is familiar, but Lance knows almost everyone in the City, so there's nothing odd about that. Maybe about his clothing, though.

"That's me."

The man steps into the light. His face doesn't make sense.

"Shiro?" Lance tilts his head. The man _looks_ like Shiro, except there's a mark across his nose, and his hair isn't regulation anymore. "You look like Shiro, but he died."

The man who looks like Shiro frowns. "No, Lance, it's me. They told you I died?"

"In an accident," Lance confirms. "Are you a ghost, then?"

"I--I'm not a ghost."

"But you died." Now Lance is frowning. "Are you a hallucination? Did I have someone else's Drink today?" He knows from his teenage noncompliance that the Drink can make people hear things that aren't there, when the wrong person drinks it. He didn't know it could make people see dead boyfriends too, though.

"Lance, I didn't die. I'm alive." The Shiro hallucination comes closer, reaching out to him. He's still frowning deeply, but his eyes keep darting out to the side, or focusing on the door behind Lance. "See? I'm here."

Lance shakes his head and steps back. There's a weird feeling rising in his throat, like he's going to cry, or throw up, or something, because this doesn't make sense. "You died."

"I didn't. Lance, here. Take my hand. I'm alive." The hallucination is very close now, only a couple feet away. He reaches down for Lance's hand but Lance snatches it away, holding it to his chest. Whatever it is that he's seeing, it must be a very good imitation, because he could feel the warmth radiating from his hand.

"Then you're not Shiro!" Lance says, and his voice wavers. "You can't be Shiro, because Shiro is dead. Why do you look like him? If you're not him, you shouldn't look like him. Stop!"

Fake Shiro freezes, then slowly retracts his hand and instead drags it down his face. He's grimacing now, like Lance does when Mari is whining.

"They _lied_ to you, Lance," he says, in an odd tone--soft, but intense, with a sad edge to it. Like Lance is missing something obvious, something he should know.

But Lance knows Shiro is dead. The City doesn't lie. To even suggest as much is a Tier 1 offense, which means this man is...

"Citizen."

Lance starts at the robotic voice; he was too upset to hear the G.Al.R.A. come in. He turns obediently to face it.

"You are in violation of curfew."

Lance sags. With all this vision nonsense, he must have missed sunset.

"I will escort you to your dwelling, and you will be given your sentence in the morning."

"Okay," says Lance. He glances back at Fake Shiro, who's still there, for some reason. Maybe he isn't a vision, just a look-alike. "Are you going to escort him too?"

The G.Al.R.A. is quiet for a moment. "Citizen, comply," is its only reply.

"Okay, no. We're not doing this," mutters Fake Shiro, and then he grabs Lance's arm and pulls him right around the Automaton and out the door. Lance tries to twist out of his grip but he's too strong; he has no choice but to run with him.

"Citizen, comply!" the G.Al.R.A. calls after them.

Not being seen by an inner G.Al.R.A., running from one, committing a Tier 1 offense, and he's too solid to be a vision...

"You're an Outsider!" Lance gasps.

"Yes, Lance," Fake Shiro says, and this time Lance recognizes his tone as exasperation.

"Let me go!"

"Not gonna happen."

They're sprinting down the main road now, dodging around the G.Al.R.A. here and there echoing the command to comply. It's dark, but not so much so that Lance can't see the glint of metal on Fake Shiro's hand, or that they're rapidly approaching the outer wall.

The outer G.Al.R.A. will see this man, then, and they won't let him by. Then Lance can go home and face his punishment in the morning. He wonders if they will account for his near-kidnapping.

"This way," Fake Shiro says then, and jerks him sideways down an alley instead. He pulls something from a pouch at his hip and tosses it over his shoulder, then pulls Lance around the corner and presses him against the wall.

" _What_ \--"

"Shh." Fake Shiro claps a hand over Lance's mouth. Lance squirms, but he can't break free of the man's grip.

Moments later, there's a muffled boom. Fake Shiro steps away and glances around the corner, then starts pulling Lance down the alley again.

"What was that?"

"Smoke grenade."

Everything about this situation is baffling. "Why?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll explain later."

They continue at a slower pace, but not by much. Lance trots along after Fake Shiro, nervous but sure that they'll be stopped at the wall.

Except that, in the deep shadows within sight of the wall, Fake Shiro stops. He glances around, and then pulls a key out of one of his pouches and unlocks the backdoor of one of the residential buildings. He tugs Lance into the dim stairwell inside and locks it again, and then they're heading down.

"Where are you taking me?" Lance asks. He's really getting scared now, because this is not the wall, nor a building he should be in at all. Besides, Fake Shiro is an Outsider. Shouldn't they be heading out?

"Out." It's the right answer, but it's at odds with their actions.

"We're not going out, we're going down."

Fake Shiro just sighs.

"Why are you kidnapping me? What's going on? Who  _are_  you?"

Lance's voice cracks on the last question, and Fake Shiro finally stops, halfway down the stairs. He turns and cups Lance's face in his hands, brow furrowed.

"Lance, look at me. I _promise_ I will explain when I can. I know it's hard to understand, but I'm doing this for your sake."

Lance's voice shakes. "That doesn't make sense."

"I know, honey, I know it doesn't. I know I'm a stranger to you right now. But I need you to trust me on one thing. Just one thing, okay?"

"...What?"

Fake Shiro brushes his thumbs across Lance's cheekbones. "You will _not_ be punished for this. I promise you that. No matter what happens, none of this is your fault, and you won't get in any trouble for it. Okay?"

As overwhelmed as Lance is--it _isn't_ his fault, and that makes sense. He has no sense of whether Fake Shiro is trustworthy or not, but he can believe in that logic.

"Okay," he says, and rubs away his tears.

"There we go." Fake Shiro smiles and gives Lance's face a pat, and then he pulls him the rest of the way down the stairs. They go through another door at the bottom, then another at the end of a dim hall, and then Fake Shiro is pulling back a rug and opening the trapdoor beneath.

"After you," he says. Lance considers running, but Fake Shiro is between him and the door. Maybe there will be another way to escape in the tunnel below. So he climbs down.

The tunnel is pitch black, but when Fake Shiro joins him he fumbles a flashlight out of one of his pouches before closing the trapdoor so that the rug falls back on top of it. He takes hold of Lance's wrist again--gentler, this time--and they start walking.

The walk is quiet but for their footsteps and an occasional sniffle from Lance. He left Mari with Damien--they should be okay without him, right? Just for a little while? Mom and Dad are on duty tonight but Lance won't be gone long--right?

He sniffles again, and Fake Shiro gives his wrist a squeeze.

Lance spaces out at some point, tired and scared and so lost that it's easier just to not process anything. The tunnel winds this way and that and he quickly loses all sense of direction anyway.

Eventually, though, there's a light at the end of the tunnel--literally--and he wakes up from his stupor. They reach a door, and a young man with overgrown dark hair sitting in front of it, who stands as they approach.

"Shiro," he says, "what the hell is this?"

"This is Lance," Fake Shiro--who is also named Shiro, apparently?--says, and lifts Lance's wrist and shakes it. "I ran into him on my way back, I still got everything we needed."

" _Lance_ -Lance?"

"Do you think I know any other Lances?"

Lance has no idea what's going on.

The other guy crosses his arms. "You seriously brought back your government-mandated boyfriend," he says. Fake Shiro sighs heavily.

"For _one,_ it's not like we were assigned to each other randomly," he says. "And two, I really did run into him. He was out past curfew anyway and it's not like we're not desperate for new members."

Long Hair Guy sighs. "I suppose he needs detoxing."

"Very much so."

"Fine, I'll take him down. You need to report in."

"I will. Lance, go with Keith, I'll explain everything later." Fake Shiro finally lets go of Lance, and gives him a gentle push toward Long Hair Guy--Keith. Lance can only manage a kind of vaguely upset mumble before Keith has him by the arm and is dragging him through the door and down another hall.

"So, you're Shiro's boyfriend, huh?" he says.

"Shiro is dead," Lance mumbles, because it's about all he can wrap his brain around right now.

"Ugh."

Keith brings him to a room where a dark-skinned woman with silver hair, a man with lighter skin and a middle-aged face at odds with his white faux-hawk, and a battered G.Al.R.A., all standing at some sort of lab stations, look up at their entrance.

"One for detox," says Keith, and leaves him there.

* * *

Shiro finds only Thace in the council room, his second lucky break tonight. He doesn't want to know yet what Kolivan will think.

"Welcome back, Shiro," Thace greets him. "Were you successful?"

"Yes, sir." He takes the receiver chips out of his pouches; the recorders they're paired with are all back in the Kitchen. "Distributed as planned."

Thace picks one up and examines it. "Good! Did you run into any trouble?"

"Nothing... serious." Shiro hesitates, but he has to report this. "I did run into someone at curfew; I brought him back with me."

Thace puts down the chip. "Were you seen?"

"No humans, and only inner Galra. They didn't acknowledge my presence, though."

He raises an eyebrow. "I'm sure they acknowledged his?"

"Well... yes."

Thace sighs. "So the City is aware of the incident."

"...Yes."

"And this was unavoidable?"

"He recognized me, and while we were talking, a Galra saw him." Which, strictly speaking, is true, even if Lance then refused to acknowledge that he was real. "So I grabbed him and ran. If I hadn't, it's probable word would have gotten back to the City anyway."

Thace nods slowly. "Kolivan won't like this, but I understand your logic. I assume you sent this man down to the lab?"

"Yes, Keith took him."

"Fine. I hope he proves useful."

Shiro nods. "He was in medical training, so I'm sure he will be."

Thace narrows his eyes. "And he told you this?"

Shiro winces internally. "Er, no. I knew him... before. Hence why he recognized me. I promise I didn't seek him out intentionally."

"...I never accused you of doing so."

He's really fucking this up. Shiro covers his face with his hand and sighs.

"Can I go, sir?" he asks.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Nothing important."

"Nothing that might help us sway him to our side?"

Judging by Thace's tone, he has to say it after all. "I don't know that he'll need much swaying. But, he was... my assigned partner. Considering that that was under the influence of the drugs, I don't know if it will help."

Thace leans back. "Ah. I see. I won't mention it to Kolivan, then."

Shiro sags. " _Thank_ you."

"You may go."

Shiro makes a very dignified escape. Though he knows that ostensibly the resistance leaders trust him, and don't blame him for what happened, he can't help but feel nervous around them. Especially Kolivan.

At least, until his next mission, all he has to do is wait for Lance to get through detox.

* * *

He heads down to see Lance first thing in the morning. Allura and Ulaz will have hooked him up to flush the drug out of his system, which means he's probably just starting to get symptoms of withdrawal now. If Lance believes Shiro's really here--and he should by now--then Shiro wants to be there for him.

He pauses outside the lab door, though. Lance loved him on the Drink, sure, but just because Shiro still had feelings after detox doesn't mean Lance will. If he goes in and finds a Lance that doesn't love him anymore--that may not even consider him a friend...

Then he should be there for him anyway. He pulls the door open and steps inside.

"Shiro." Allura is the only one to greet him; Ulaz is away, and the repurposed G.Al.R.A is dormant. "I assume you're here for Lance?"

"Yes. Can I see him?"

She looks aside and doesn't respond right away. That's not a good sign.

"Yes," she says, "but be... gentle. He is still partially delusional."

That's not reassuring. "Partially delusional?"

She sighs. "It comes and goes. It may be the effects of the drug still wearing off, but it's possible that his Drink contained medication to suppress some kind of psychosis. While he's in the withdrawal period, we can't be sure."

"Shit."

"Quite. We took a blood sample once we realized." She gestures at the whirring centrifuge. "I've been running tests to see if we can determine what drugs were in his system, but by then it was very diluted."

Shiro rubs his face tiredly. It really figures that he'd get Lance back only for something to go wrong again. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Unless you have a sample of his Drink, no." She pauses. "You may be able to comfort him. He asked for you."

Shiro looks up. "He did?"

"Yes, but he also asked if you were a ghost." She gives him a sympathetic look. "Just be prepared. He's in the first room."

Shiro takes a deep breath, and goes to the first room. He knocks lightly on the door.

"Lance?"

There's no answer from inside; it _is_ early, and considering the night Lance must have had, he might be sleeping. Shiro eases the door open slowly and peers inside.

Lance is awake--cowering in the far corner, shaking and wide-eyed. When he meets Shiro's gaze he flinches and shrinks further into himself, covering his face with his hands. Shiro's heart drops to his feet.

"Lance?" he asks softly.

Lance peeks at him through his fingers. "Are you real?" he whispers, and Shiro's heart shatters. He slips into the room and lightly closes the door behind him.

"I'm real," he says gently. "Lance, I'm real. Here." He holds out a hand.

Lance looks at it. He unfolds slowly from the corner and creeps forward like a wild animal, skittish, like the slightest movement or sound will startle him away. Shiro doesn't move a muscle, just waits.

Lance reaches out, slowly. He hesitates when his fingers are mere inches from Shiro's, and Shiro hardly dares breathe. Then Lance shuffles a little closer and their fingers brush, and his breath catches, and then he lurches forward to collide with Shiro's chest and cling to him.

Shiro wraps his arms around Lance's shaking body and breathes.

"It's you," Lance says, muffled. "It's really you."

"It's really me." God, this is so different from the Lance he remembers. "I'm here."

Lance sniffles. "Thought you were dead," he says.

"There was an… incident," Shiro admits. "I lost my arm, and... Well, I survived, but I also escaped the City." He tightens his arms around Lance's shoulders. "They wouldn't have told you that."

"No." Lance's fingers periodically dig into his back, like he's reassuring himself that Shiro is solid. "Where are we?"

"Outside." Shiro rubs his back. "Underground, at the moment, actually. There's a sort of resistance group here--people who believe we can live in a peaceful society _without_ being drugged."

"The Drink?"

"Yes."

Lance nods. "Allura said I was drugged, but I didn't believe her until it started wearing off." He sucks in a breath. "But now, I feel... bad."

"There is a withdrawal period," Shiro admits. "It'll be over in less than a week, probably."

Lance groans. "That's so _long_ ," he whines, and Shiro smiles.

"It'll be over before you know it. I had to get through it, too."

Lance is silent for a long moment.

"Did you miss me?" he finally asks, quietly.

"Very much so."

"I missed you, too."

Shiro's shattered heart pulls itself back together, and he kisses Lance's temple. "I'm glad you're here," he says.

"I'm glad I'm with you," Lance mumbles, and he wraps his arms more fully around Shiro's back. "But I'm scared."

"No one here will hurt you, Lance," Shiro assures him. "And the Galra can't find us. You're safe here."

"Someone keeps telling me I have to run."

Oh no. "Who?" Shiro is sure to keep his voice calm and even.

"I don't know. I haven't seen them. They keep whispering from the walls."

Shiro feels like he's been doused in cold water. The hand he's been running up and down Lance's back unwittingly stops.

The walls here are plaster over concrete--behind two of them, there's nothing but dirt. The lab and the next room are on the other side of the other two. It's impossible for any whisper to penetrate--nor would anyone here do so.

"Have they told you anything else?" he asks carefully.

Lance's face scrunches up--Shiro can feel it against his neck. "They tell me Allura is going to torture me, and that I'm a prisoner, and that you're not real."

"Do you believe I'm real?"

Lance's hands close around fistfuls of Shiro's shirt. "Yes."

"Then don't believe anything else the voice says. You're not a prisoner, and Allura won't hurt you--she's trying to help you. And I'm definitely real."

"They went away when you came in."

"Because I proved them wrong."

Lance is quiet again for a long time. Finally, he shifts, turning his face away from Shiro's neck.

"...Is the voice real?"

Lance's own voice is small and scared, and all Shiro can do is hold him tighter.

"No," he whispers reluctantly.

Lance turns his face into Shiro's shoulder again and doesn't say anything. He must have suspected already, to ask such a question, but there's no telling if he'll believe it later.

"Lance," Shiro says. "You can always trust me. I promise you that. If you're ever unsure if something is real, or if you're scared, or anything at all, ask for me. I'll come."

"...Okay."

His voice is still small, but carries a little more of that confidence Shiro remembers, and it's heartening.

He'd be happy to stand here with Lance all day--there's nothing he has to do, chances are he won't be sent out on another mission for several days at least--but his bad knee is starting to ache, and Lance should probably be resting anyway. So he pulls back a little, just far enough to see Lance's drawn face.

"Let's sit," he suggests, and Lance nods blankly. Something twists in Shiro's chest at the sight.

They settle on the edge of the bed; Lance leans on his shoulder, and Shiro wraps his arm around Lance's waist.

"How are Damien and Mari?" he asks, banking on Lance's love for his family _not_ being a result of the drugs, and Lance brightens.

"Mari's getting so big," he says. "She's up to, like, here now." He taps his hip. "And Damien's gotten so smart I can't believe it. He's gonna go far." He sighs and slumps further against Shiro. "I guess they're going to be okay without me. I hope so."

"I'm sure they will." Shiro rubs his shoulder and dreads the question he knows is coming.

"Can we..." Lance looks up at him. "Can we get them out, too?"

There it is. "I... can look into it, but we have limited resources, Lance. I'm sorry. You know they'll be safe until we can."

He frowns. "You can't just... walk in and get them? Like you did for me?"

Shiro sighs. "Do you remember all the Galra that saw you on the way out? And that was without me seeking you out purposefully--you just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The City will know you escaped by now, and that also means your family will be under closer watch for a while."

"Oh."

Lance looks down, and Shiro twists to pull him into a hug again.

"I'm sorry, honey. You'll get to see them again soon, I promise."

Shiro stays with Lance for several more hours, catching him up on some of what he's been doing since he left the City; Ulaz comes in to check on them around lunchtime and shoos him off to let Lance rest, though.

"I'll come back later," he promises on his way out.

* * *

There are a few things Lance knows for sure.

One, Shiro is alive. Shiro loves him.

Two, he was drugged into compliance along with every other citizen of the City. Even if Allura and Ulaz hadn't said so--even if _Shiro_ hadn't said so--his own training and the shivers and headaches he's going through now confirm it.

Three, he's definitely not in the City anymore--the whole thing about the drugs is proof of that, and that no one expects anything from him, except recovery. There's routine but it's not strict, and the G.Al.R.A. outside his room hasn't said a thing about compliance; his room is clean and tidy, well-maintained but well-used and windowless. He's underground.

Four, his mind is playing tricks on him.

Most of the time it's fine; Lance is nothing but bored when Shiro isn't around. But sometimes the things he knows feel like lies, and the walls whisper and command him to do things, and he's _scared,_  so damn scared of nothing at all. Everything is too bright, too sharp, too big, and when Allura or Ulaz walk in and speak to him he can't understand what they're saying.

He knows when it's happening, and he knows what he's _supposed_ to believe, and that only makes it more terrifying. He can't trust his own senses.

It's clear it's not a symptom of withdrawal by this point, and it's also clear that his usefulness to the resistance is limited when he could have a psychotic episode at any moment. Allura and Ulaz have been very patient with him, allowing him to help with menial tasks around the lab now that his hands have stopped shaking, but he hates that there's only so much he can do.

That's why he and Shiro are heading back up the tunnel toward the City now. As soon as they get up the ladder, through the trapdoor into the basement of the residential building, Shiro claims his hand.

"No matter what," he says, "don't let go."

"I won't," Lance promises.

Shiro checks his watch, lifting Lance's hand in the process. "The Galra are still out," he says. "They shouldn't see you anymore, but I'd prefer we not run into any anyway."

"I know the cameras showed Hunk is at the Kitchen already," says Lance. "But if we show up  _too_  early he'll be suspicious."

"Slowly, then," says Shiro, and they creep up the stairs and out the door.

The City is eerie this way, Lance thinks, as they walk cautiously through the alleys. The light is warm and shallow, casting long shadows in front of them; it's shortly after dawn, between the early shifts and the time the rest of the City wakes up, so the streets are silent and empty but for the G.Al.R.A. they carefully avoid.

If it were a normal day, Lance might be getting up now, gathering all the things Damien and Mari would need for school--getting ready for training himself, before they'd all set out for breakfast. Maybe he would still be asleep, if both his parents weren't at the hospital last night.

But it's not a normal day, because Lance is walking hand-in-hand with a dead man through a city where he no longer exists.

They stop in front of the Kitchen, and Shiro squeezes Lance's hand.

"Are you sure you can convince him?"

"Yes," says Lance. "He's my best friend, drugs or not. I can convince him."

"Alright," says Shiro. "Remember--"

"Don't let go. I know."

They enter the Kitchen.

There are a few people inside at the tables, but not many; most have come and gone, or not yet arrived. They walk together straight to the Drink dispenser, as planned. Lance grabs a cup as he had every morning for nearly as long as he can remember, except this time, his hand shakes.

Shiro squeezes his other hand. Lance places his cup in the dispenser, and presses his thumb against the scanner.

There's a flash of red light, and then an angry beep as his print is rejected.

"Shit."

"Don't worry, we knew this was likely," Shiro says soothingly, rubbing his thumb across Lance's knuckles. "Now we need to find Hunk."

Lance takes a deep breath, and nods. "Right. Hunk." He leads them along the wall towards the window, where breakfast is being served.

"Hunk!" he calls, waving toward the largest figure behind the counter. Hunk starts and looks up.

"Lance?" he asks, eyes widening. "You're back!"

"I am back!" Lance winks cheerily--as cheerily as he can manage. "But the Drink machine doesn't seem to have realized. Can you reset it for me, please?"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Hunk waves to someone to take his place--not that there's anyone to serve right now. Shiro bends to Lance's ear as Hunk makes his way toward the door.

"Good job," he says quietly.

"Thanks."

Hunk emerges from the back and waves them over to the machine. It's only then that he seems to notice Shiro.

"Hi Shiro!" he says, and turns to the machine. He starts to fiddle with something, swinging the front open, and then--pauses. Lance's heart drops.

"Wait." Hunk turns, slowly, and squints at Shiro. "You can't be Shiro. Shiro's dead."

Shiro's hand tightens. "I get that a lot," he says.

"Hunk, buddy," Lance interjects. "I still need my Drink, y'know."

Hunk hesitates. His eyes flick between Lance and Shiro, and down to their joined hands.

"I'll introduce you after?" Lance offers.

 _Don't do that,_ a voice whispers.

"I want to comply," Lance continues nervously, squeezing Shiro's hand. Shiro is real.

_You have to leave._

"Right," says Hunk, though there's still an edge to his voice. "Of course." He turns back to the machine, and Shiro and Lance immediately twist away, bending in close to talk.

_Run, you fool._

"Do you have a plan?" Shiro asks.

_Run!_

"It's  _happening_ ," Lance whispers back. He shields his eyes from the light.

_You idiot._

"Wh--the whispers?"

_You're going to die._

Lance shivers and nods. He squeezes his eyes shut, focusing on Shiro's hand.

 _You_ should _die._

"It's not real," Shiro says, clearer than the whispers. "Listen to my voice."

_Die!_

"All set," says Hunk, which means Lance has to open his eyes again. He flinches in the bright light--the machine seems impossibly far away, but he forces himself to move toward it. He reaches it sooner than he should, shakily presses his thumb to the scanner.

It flashes red, and beeps, and Lance can't remember what he's supposed to do now, can't even tell if it's worked or not. But Shiro grabs the cup and tugs him away, so he follows. Hunk says something as they leave, and Shiro responds, but he can't comprehend their words. The whispers overlap, garbled and accompanied by a high pitched noise that won't go away no matter how much he shakes his head.

Someone says his name, and it echoes through his head, detached from any meaning.

The warmth around his hand seems hot, too hot, and he tries to shake it free but it persists. It pulls him stumblingly along; his eyes are squeezed shut and he doesn't dare open them to see what it is. It's too bright.

"Lance!"

His back hits something solid, and then the heat leaves his hand only to reappear at his shoulders. It travels up his neck to his face and he flinches.

"Lance!"

He focuses on the voice. It's louder than the whispers, clearer, kinder. The heat softens.

"Lance, Lance."

The voice is familiar.

"Lance, can you hear me?"

Shiro.

"I can hear you," Lance whispers. The voices fade.

"Lance, can you open your eyes?"

Lance opens his eyes, and meets Shiro's. The warmth is Shiro's hands at his jaw; they're in an alley in the City, pressed against a wall. Hunk hovers nervously nearby.

"I can see again," Lance mumbles, turning his head to look around. "Why's Hunk here?"

Shiro lets out a breath like he'd been holding it, and bumps his forehead to Lance's temple.

"Okay," he says. "Hunk was worried so he followed us. He's going to have to come back with us."

"That's... fine."

"Yes, but we need to get moving."

"Okay." Lance reaches up and reclaims one of Shiro's hands. He's still out of sorts but if they need to go, they need to go. "Let's go."

Shiro kisses his cheek before he steps back. "This way," he says, and leads them down the alley.

"Okay, so, what was that?" Hunk asks.

"I'll explain when we get there." Shiro sounds exhausted, and Lance glances over at him. He looks exhausted, too.

"...Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Lance says before Shiro has to, and gets a small, strained smile for his trouble.

"Are you sure this is like... allowed?" Hunk continues. "I mean, it's only okay that I'm away from the Kitchen because I'm supposed to be getting ready to go to the Center. I have first shift there."

There's a hitch in Shiro's step, and he glances down at Lance with an unreadable expression, but he doesn't say anything.

"...Don't worry about it," says Lance, wracking his beleaguered brain for some explanation, and something he can offer to Hunk to mollify him. "You won't get in trouble."

Shiro stops them short of a crossroads, then. He peers around the corner, making sure the coast is clear, then starts and presses back against the wall.

"Shiro?"

The voice is familiar, but Lance can't place it until its mulleted owner comes around the corner.

"What're you doing here?" continues Keith, and then he sees Lance. And Hunk. His eyes narrow. "Shiro..."

"Needed a sample of Lance's Drink," Shiro says quickly, patting one of the pouches at his hip. "But, Keith, listen. Hunk has been to the Center."

Keith's eyebrows shoot up. "So you're kidnapping someone useful this time?"

"Hey!" says Lance.

"...Kidnapping?" says Hunk.

"Shit," says Shiro. He thrusts Lance's hand at Keith. "Make sure Lance gets back safely." Then he grabs Hunk's arm and starts pulling him quickly down the next alley, ignoring Hunk's alarmed questions, leaving Keith holding Lance's wrist like it's a particularly nasty piece of trash.

"Do I have to hold this?"

Lance doesn't really want the answer to be yes, either. "Do you want to chase me down while I'm in the middle of a psychotic breakdown?"

"Ugh." Keith tightens his grip. "Fine, let's go."

They proceed with somewhat more caution than Shiro is, and more than Lance expects considering Keith's earlier attitude. When he points it out, Keith rolls his eyes.

"Shiro would be upset if anything happened to you," he explains.

Considering Lance's only impression of Keith so far is "jerk," it's weird that he'd care about someone's feelings. He ponders it for a moment.

"So you're like... in love with him?"

"What? No!" Keith shoots a glare back at him over his shoulder, then pauses at an intersection to look around. He huffs a sigh. "Look, Shiro and me, we've lost a lot of friends. This resistance thing isn't exactly a safe career. Now it's... just us."

Oh, shit. Okay. "I've been in the lab since I got out, dude, I couldn't've  _known_ \--"

"I know!" Keith hisses and pulls him around a corner. "You had no idea there's a war going on. Citizens are kept in the dark." They finally reach the residential building; the door is already unlocked, but Keith locks it behind them. "You only just escaped, but I grew up with the resistance. There's a lot you don't know."

Lance considers that. It's true there's a lot he doesn't know about the resistance--a lot he doesn't know about Shiro, too, considering he never mentioned a war or losing any friends. Why wouldn't he tell Lance about that?

"Go ahead," says Keith, lifting the trapdoor. "And don't freak out."

Lance looks up, already crouching to start down the ladder. "What?"

"He was planning to tell you everything once you got your meds. He was worried you'd be upset about it but he didn't want to stress you out or whatever."

"Oh." Okay. That's... better. Lance climbs down the ladder, and waits for Keith to join him. Keith, unsurprisingly, doesn't grab his wrist again, just nudges him down the tunnel as he turns on his flashlight. They walk in silence for a minute.

"I have questions," says Lance.

"Of course you do," says Keith.

Lance decides to go for the biggest one first, the one that's been bugging him since even before this outing: "Why do you guys keep sneaking into the City?"

Keith sighs, and he's silent long enough that Lance thinks he's not going to answer.

"There's someone we've been trying to find," he says, though, finally. "Her name is Katie."

* * *

"Okay, I am _really_ freaking out now." Hunk hunches inwards as he looks around the lab, and Shiro sighs. It's a small miracle they made it back here safely at all; Hunk is a gentle giant but an easily frightened one and if he'd had it in his mind to get free of Shiro he's not sure he'd have been able to stop him.

"Another one?" Ulaz asks, deceptively lightly.

"Yes," says Shiro, frowning. "And he might know something vital to our... operations."

Ulaz's eyebrows raise. "I see. Let's get him hooked up, then."

"...Hooked up?" asks Hunk.

"They won't hurt you," Shiro assures him, and Ulaz ushers Hunk away into one of the rooms. Shiro sighs again and leans against the nearest counter, mentally regrouping.

Okay. Hunk has been to the Center. That's vital to the war, too, but...

_They'll call her Pidge at the Center._

He shakes his head. There's no use dwelling on Matt right now; he has Lance's Drink, which means they can get him medication. In this moment, that's his priority. He heads over to the repurposed G.Al.R.A..

"This is Lance's drink," he says, taking the vial out of his pouch. "I need you to isolate any medications in it. Clear?"

"Yes," the G.Al.R.A. responds robotically, and takes the vial. It's been programmed to be able to carry out various tasks around the lab, and he doesn't doubt that distilling a Drink is one of them. Matt and Katie would have thought of that.

The thought prompts another sigh, as he watches the G.Al.R.A. cross the lab with a slight limp. It needs to be maintenanced--so do the rest throughout headquarters, undoubtedly--but now that Matt is gone there's no one with the ability or time to do so. Maybe Hunk can, if he's been working at the Center...

"What's gotcha sighing, babe?"

Shiro jumps. "Lance!"

"The one and only." Lance leans into his side, and Shiro unconsciously relaxes a little. "Keith carried out his escort mission successfully, and with minimal eyerolling."

"From you or him?"

"Both." Lance leans his head on Shiro's shoulder. "Where's Hunk?"

"In the room next to yours, with Ulaz."

"Am I gonna get to move out of here soon?"

"The Galra's working on your drink now." Shiro gestures to it. "Once we know what they gave you we can synthesize more. Then Allura just has to give the okay."

"And then I can move out?"

"And then you can move out, to wherever you want."

"With you?"

"Sure."

Lance gives a pleased hum. "So... what's wrong?"

"Nothing in particular," Shiro says. "Just... thinking."

He's been putting off telling Lance about Matt and Katie--using his disorder as an excuse. But the truth is, he feels guilty. Guilty for letting Katie be taken, guilty for letting Matt die--guilty for not fulfilling his dying wish. Guilty for not telling Lance about any of it.

"...Keith told me about his girlfriend," Lance says then, slowly, and Shiro freezes.

"Who, Katie?" he chokes, hoping against hope Lance will say no.

"Yeah," says Lance.

"Did he admit to that?" It's a feeble attempt to redirect, but maybe Keith didn't tell Lance everything--maybe he just told him about her.

"No, it was just kind of obvious. Why? Were they trying to hide it?"

"From each other, too, last I knew." Shiro shrugs a little, feeling calmer. "But the rest of us had figured it out."

"Heh."

Lance is quiet for a minute, and Shiro thinks he's in the clear. But then Lance shifts against his shoulder and wraps an arm around his waist.

"He told me you guys have been looking for her."

Just like that Shiro's heartrate skyrockets again. "...What else did he tell you?"

"That you were gonna tell me about it once we got my meds."

Shiro sighs and turns to face him. "Lance..."

"You didn't have to wait." Lance looks squarely back at him, pouting just slightly. "It wouldn't've hurt anything."

"You would've wanted to help," Shiro tries to explain.

"Of course I'd want to help!"

"I didn't want to stress you out--it's better for your mental health--"

"I can  _handle_  it!"

"You can't!" Shiro blurts, and immediately regrets it, because Lance's face darkens. "I mean--I didn't mean that. I was just worried about your wellbeing, Lance."

Lance looks away. "Right, because I'm a liability."

"You're not--you're not a liability."

Lance grabs his hand and shakes it. "Don't let go of my hand, Lance!" he says mockingly. "I don't want you to run off in the middle of a psychotic break, Lance! I'm worried you'll get lost in a city you've lived in all your life and _somehow_ not be able to find your way back, Lance!"

"Lance--"

"I don't trust you, Lance!" Lance drops his hand, folds his arms, and glares at him.

Shiro's heart shatters.

"I trust you," he says. "Of course I trust you. That's not... that's not the real reason why. I told Keith that but it was just an excuse. Lance, I trust you, and I--I'm sorry. I know I should have told you sooner." He hesitates.

"And?" Lance prompts.

"It's..." He sighs. Before he can explain, though, Ulaz emerges from Hunk's room.

"We may have a problem," he says.

They all file into the room; Hunk tries to sit up when he sees Lance, but Ulaz gently pushes him back down, adjusting the tubes in his arm.

"Lance!" says Hunk. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Lance says, though his voice is still rough with hurt. Shiro has to tell him, and soon.

"Hunk," Ulaz says patiently. "Tell them about the lockdown."

"Oh, right!" Hunk nods. "If I don't get back by the end of the day, they're gonna put the City on lockdown."

"Why?" asks Shiro.

"Uh, because I work at the Center, and that's like, super important. I mean,  _I_  don't do much there yet, I'm new, but it's like, the principle of the matter, y'know?"

"And... what does lockdown mean?"

"Galra everywhere," Hunk says firmly. "The outside ones come in."

Shiro's blood runs cold.

"So they'd see you. 'Cause you're Outsiders, right? That's what's going on here?"

Shiro exchanges a look with Ulaz. This is bad. This is very bad.

"...Something like that," says Lance.

"How long does lockdown last?" Shiro asks.

Hunk shrugs. "Until I come back?"

So they have two options: wait until Hunk is fully off the City drugs and have him take them to the Center--assuming that they can get to the Center at all--or get in _today,_  before the lockdown starts.

The choice is obvious to Shiro.

"Hey, Hunk," says Lance. "What's at the Center, anyway?"

"Uh...." It's subtle, but Hunk's eyes flick to Shiro and Ulaz before returning to Lance.

If he'll tell Lance the information they desperately need, it's worth it to hear it secondhand.

"Ulaz, may I talk to you?" Shiro says. He gives Lance a look, glancing pointedly at Hunk. Lance nods slightly.

"Of course," Ulaz says, though he sounds a little confused, and they leave the room. Shiro leads him away from the door a ways before he explains.

"Hunk and Lance were best friends," he says. "I doubt he would've said anything with us there, but he might talk to Lance."

Ulaz raises an eyebrow. "And Lance will tell you after?"

"Yes."

"Pardon me for prying, but I heard... raised voices, earlier."

Shiro runs a hand through his hair. "It'll be fine. I just need to... it'll be fine."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." He trusts Lance.

It's not long before Lance slips out of the room and closes the door behind him. He sticks his hands in his pockets and saunters over agonizingly slowly, face unreadable.

"Did he tell you?" Ulaz asks.

"Yep." Lance pops the 'p' and rocks back on his heels but isn't immediately forthcoming.

"And?" Shiro prompts.

"And," says Lance, "I'll tell you if you promise to take me with you when you go."

* * *

"Lance," Shiro says slowly, "I really don't think that's a good idea."

That's about the answer Lance was expecting, though it's still disappointing. He frowns pointedly.

"Why? Because you don't want to babysit me?"

"That's not--"

"Ulaz." Lance turns on him. "How long until my meds are ready?"

"Oh." Ulaz glances around like he's looking for an escape. "An hour, or so."

"So. You can't even use that an excuse." Lance turns back to Shiro.

"The medication will have to build up in your system to be fully effective..." Ulaz adds.

"If something happens anyway, I know where the exit is." Lance crosses his arms. He's sick and tired of being useless--of loitering in the lab waiting for Ulaz or Allura to ask him to fetch this or that item. Of Shiro looking at him like he might crack at any moment, treating him like glass. Of his own damn _head_ lying to him at the drop of a hat.

He wants to prove he was worth rescuing.

"Fine," Shiro says finally. "But only under the same agreement as this morning, once we're in the Center. I don't know what we'll find there and we don't want to give anyone reason to suspect the resistance has a way into the City."

Shiro has a point, but Lance isn't gonna concede just yet.

"I know when it's happening," he points out. "I told you this morning. If it happens again,  _then_  I'll hold your hand."

It's obvious from Shiro's grimace that he's not comfortable with that. Nor is Ulaz.

"You should be resting," he says, "not heading out on another mission. Shiro, you can't allow this, and I can't condone it."

Shiro heaves a sigh. "I think he can make his own decisions," he says, which is the most heartening thing Lance has heard all day. "If you're sure about this, Lance, then fine. You can come."

Well, that's step one. "Good."

"So what did Hunk tell you?"

Right, the reason they're having this conversation at all. "Not much. He doesn't _know_ much, he was still in training. But apparently there's something called the 'Principle Intelligent Decision Generator' that's in charge."

"In charge of what?" asks Ulaz. "The Center?"

"No," Lance says. "Everything. The whole City."

He can't blame Shiro and Ulaz for the looks on their faces. He couldn't really believe it when Hunk told him either.

"There's a... program... in charge of the City," says Ulaz flatly.

"I don't know if it's a program. Hunk didn't know _what_ it is, just what it's called, and that it, well, makes decisions. And controls the Galra. So it basically controls everything."

"And this 'Decision Generator' is in the Center somewhere?" Shiro asks.

"Yep."

Shiro turns to Ulaz. "This could be it. If we can take out the thing in charge, the City will shut down."

"There will be a lot of people to deal with," Ulaz points out. "We are not exactly prepared to detox a city-full of people."

"I know, but this might be our only chance."

"You need to inform Kolivan."

"No. You know how Kolivan is, he'll forbid it. If I can catch Thace..."

Lance doesn't know who either of those people are. He glances between the two of them.

"Kolivan needs to know regardless."

"Yes, but I'd rather he know when it's too late for him to stop us." Shiro looks around the lab; Lance raises an eyebrow. Kolivan must be in charge, then, which means Shiro's planning something borderline insubordinate.

That's _awesome._

"Shiro..." Ulaz says warningly.

"I'm going to go talk to Keith," Shiro says, light and innocent, not that anyone's fooled by it. Ulaz sighs.

"At least wait until Lance's medication is ready. I'll make sure Kolivan doesn't find out until after you've left."

"Thank you, Ulaz."

Ulaz shrugs. Shiro turns to Lance.

"Let's go find Keith," he says.

"Okay." Lance trails after him out of the lab. "Why are we finding Keith?"

"Because he's going to come with us. We'll need a distraction if we want to get into the Center."

"So he's bait?" Lance grins. Shiro snorts.

"Not exactly." He pauses. "About earlier."

"Mm?" This better be good. "Go on."

"I trust you. I'm just worried you'll get hurt. You understand that, right?" Shiro swallows and glances over at him but doesn't maintain eye contact.

"I understand," says Lance, "but I'm not made of glass. I can handle this."

"It's not just you at stake, if something happens at the Center."

"Which is why I agreed to hold your hand if 'something' happens. But otherwise? _I can handle it_."

Shiro sighs. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Besides," Lance continues, "what if someone gets hurt? You know I have medical training." He's not useless, so there.

"Keith knows first aid," Shiro says cautiously. "We've never needed more than that--"

"Keith, Keith, Keith." That was not what Lance wanted to hear. "Keith knows everything. Keith didn't mention he was a doctor, too."

"Lance." Shiro stops, so Lance stops and turns to face him. "You don't need some specialized skill to come along. I'll be happy to have someone to watch my back out there; that's not the problem."

That's more heartening than Lance is willing to admit. "The problem is my shit brain," he says instead.

They both know Shiro can't really deny that; he shrugs a little and starts down the hall again.

"You still owe me an explanation for why you didn't tell me about Katie," Lance adds. Shiro visibly stiffens for a moment, but he nods.

"Right. It's nothing to do with you, actually. It's... personal." He sighs again. "It's also kind of a long story, because it requires context."

"We have an hour."

"We do." Shiro leads him into an empty sitting room; he leans into the intercom at the door and calls a quick request for Keith to join them ASAP, then nods over to the ratty sofa. He sits, and Lance follows.

"The place to begin, I guess," Shiro says, "is before the accident, when I was still a citizen."

"More than a year ago."

"Yes. I was out for an evening walk--this was shortly before we moved in together--and I met an Outsider by the name of Matt Holt. Stumbled across him while he was on a mission, a lot like you did, except he didn't take me with him--yet."

"Matt Holt." Lance ponders the name. "I don't think I've met him."

"No. I'm getting to that." Shiro shifts in his seat. "I think I figured out he was an Outsider pretty quickly, but for whatever reason, I didn't turn him in. Maybe because he didn't _seem_ like a threat. He was... friendly. Kind, and funny. A lot like you."

He looks down at his hands. "We became friends, just... meeting every now and then, in the evening before curfew. Keith was there sometimes. And I met Matt's sister, Katie, too."

There's a piece of the puzzle that Lance was missing. "So she wasn't missing yet? What happened?"

But Shiro shakes his head. "I'm not done with the background yet. Because I found out later that the Holts were involved in the creation of the City, somehow--I don't know how, and I don't know if there's anyone left that does know. Their father, Sam, was held somewhere in the City because of this."

Lance's blood runs cold.

Shiro looks up. "The night of the 'accident'... I don't know how the Galra found out Matt and Katie were in the City. Maybe someone else saw them. Maybe the Galra always knew, but why only act _then?_ We could only speculate that something had happened to Sam and they needed to replace him. Either way, the outside Galra came in--Keith wasn't there that night, and I was caught up in the fight, and..." He hangs his head again. "Katie was taken. Matt and I were injured. I had to nearly carry him... he directed me out of the City, through the tunnel to this place. I think it was Thace at the door that night; he brought us down to the lab, there wasn't time to get to the army hospital..." He takes a deep breath. "I lost my arm. He lost his life."

"Oh," Lance whispers.

"His last words to me were, 'Save her, Shiro.'" Shiro's hands are slowly clenching and unclenching in his lap. "It's been a year, and I haven't saved her yet. I haven't even found her."

"Shiro." Lance takes one of his hands and pulls it into his own lap, and its movement stills.

"That's why I didn't tell you," Shiro finishes after a moment. "I'm not as capable as you think I am, Lance. I can't even save one girl."

Maybe Lance isn't the only one that's been feeling inadequate. He squeezes Shiro's hand.

"You saved me. And Hunk."

"Katie won't blame you." Keith vaults over the sofa to land next to Shiro, making them both jump. "You know how she is."

"How much of that did you hear?" Shiro asks in a strangled voice. Lance glares at Keith in turn, disgruntled by the interruption. Keith just shrugs.

"Nothing I didn't already know. I was there." He turns his head to level them both with a flat look. "What did you call me for?"

Shiro closes his eyes a moment and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes, his hand tightens around Lance's.

"We're going to the Center. Today."

Keith raises an eyebrow. "About time. What do need from me?"

"A distraction."

Slowly, Keith grins. "I can do that."

* * *

"That's... a lot," Lance comments when Keith joins them at the tunnel entrance and unzips his backpack to show them the explosives packed inside.

"Need a big distraction," Keith grunts.

"Try not to hurt anyone," Shiro says, more for Lance's sake than to remind Keith; he knows Keith will be careful.

"Of course. You're ready?"

"Yes."

"Yep!" Lance says. "Let's go already."

Keith shoulders his bag, and they head out the door. Antok, outside, nods to them silently; Shiro doesn't know how Ulaz managed to bribe him from notifying Kolivan right away, but he's not going to question it.

Still, he figures it's better to not discuss the mission in front of him, so he waits until they're out of sight and out of earshot to say, "Keith."

"Yeah?"

"You know I'll look for Katie if I can," he says, "and if I find her, of course I'll do everything I can to save her. But--"

"But finding the Decision Generator is the purpose of the mission, I know." Keith doesn't look back. "I don't like it, but I know."

Shiro reaches forward to place a hand on Keith's shoulder. "If this mission succeeds, we'll have all the time in the world to find her."

"...Yeah."

Keith just keeps walking. When Shiro drops his hand, Lance claims it. He glances over with alarm.

"Is it--"

"Nope," says Lance quickly. "I'm just... nervous."

"It's not too late to stay back, if you want."

"I don't want."

"Alright."

They walk most of the rest of the way in silence. Keith doesn't slow until they reach the ladder.

"I'll circle around?" he suggests.

"Right," says Shiro. "It won't take us long to get in position, so start when you're ready."

"Got it."

Keith heads up the ladder; he doesn't wait for them at the top, and is gone by the time Lance gets up and shuts the trapdoor behind him.

"Ready?" Shiro asks.

"As I'll ever be," says Lance, and they go upstairs.

It's late morning, now, so there are plenty of people out and about; Shiro and Lance stick to the alleys as much as possible, but return the cheerful greetings they get; anything less would raise suspicion. Fortunately, no one seems to recognize them, and Shiro keeps his prosthetic hand in his pocket so it won't draw attention.

Even after a year, it's never stopped being nerve-wracking coming back to the City. The memories are still too fresh. He always expects an outside Galra or two to come around the corner like they did that night, to see him and Lance and attack...

They won't, he reminds himself. They were after the Holts. He isn't a Holt, nor is Lance. They'll be fine.

They're almost to the Center when Lance gasps and pulls Shiro aside into another alley. He tucks them both into a doorway, out of sight.

"What?" Shiro asks, alarmed.

"Mari," Lance hisses. "I don't think she saw us..."

"Are you sure?" If Lance's sister has seen them, the mission could be seriously compromised.

"Yeah," Lance breathes. "Yeah, I'm sure." He's still looking down the alley like she might appear any moment.

Shiro gives his shoulder a little squeeze. "Hey. At least you know she's okay, right? But we gotta get moving."

"Right, yeah." Lance tears his eyes away. "Go around?"

"Go around," Shiro confirms. They start off down the alley again.

The Center of the City is a nondescript building off the main road, near the hospital and the Barracks, where the Galra go to recharge. Shiro and Lance loiter across the street, trying to look like they're supposed to be there. No one gives them a second glance.

Shortly, a loud boom sounds, making the ground shudder slightly, and a plume of smoke rises over the buildings. Lance starts forward.

"Wait." Shiro grips his wrist. "We need a little chaos first."

That makes Lance smirk. "Alrighty."

At first there's only confused murmurs, people stopping in the streets to look; then there's a second explosion, and a third. Murmurs turn to shouts. People start backing away.

At the fourth explosion, rising directly above the Center--just a smoke bomb, but it looks and sounds impressive--they start running.

"Now," says Shiro, and they hurry into the Center.

Inside is even more chaotic--workers are rushing to and fro, yelling questions no one answers. Some rush out of the building, some head further in. Some all but run in circles. None of them seem to know what to do.

Shiro and Lance head straight through, past "security" and into the main part of the building. They're stopped only once--a woman tells them there was an explosion, they need to get out.

"Thanks for letting us know," says Shiro, and they press on.

The center of the Center is quiet. Empty. They walk through the clean white hallways accompanied only by the echoes of their footsteps; there are signs here and there but they can only guess at what they're even looking for.

"What do you think it is?" Lance asks, hushed.

"Dunno," says Shiro honestly. "A server room, maybe." That seems like something that might be given the name of "Decision Generator."

"I'm... not sure I know what that is."

"A room full of computers, basically. They had one in the Barracks."

"Huh."

The sheer sameness of the hallways here is putting Shiro on edge. He's yet to see any sign of any server room--nor hear the hum of fans nearby. There's no indication anyone even comes through here, no scuff marks or dirt on the floors. It's just... empty.

"There!" says Lance as they turn a corner, and he jogs ahead to the next junction, and the sign there. He taps it, and Shiro comes to look over his shoulder--and freezes.

"You know what I bet that stands for?" Lance says. His voice sounds distant. "Principle Intelligent Decision Generator." His finger follows the letters, one by one.

P.I.D.Ge.

_They'll call her Pidge at the Center._

"I know what it is," Shiro whispers, brushing his own fingers over the sign. After all this time...

"Shiro?"

_Save her, Shiro._

"It's  _Katie_."

There's a long moment of silence.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Shiro whispers. "'They'll call her Pidge at the Center.' That's what Matt told me, before he died."

_They'll call her Pidge at the Center. Save her, Shiro._

The more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense. The Holts had been part of the City from day one--and when something happened to their father, the G.Al.R.A. had sought out a replacement... because he'd been _running the entire City._

And now that burden has fallen to Katie, under some sort of coercion--the drugs, maybe, or something else. Somehow, she's the one calling the shots now.

"We need to get to her," Shiro says. "Now."

"Then let's _go_ ," says Lance, and tugs him down the hall.

Walking into the room feels like walking into a dream; the walls are a soft, mottled blue, so different from the harsh white outside. Flowers, some loose, some in bouquets, some fresh and some decaying, have been left around the doorway like offerings. A fake window hangs on one wall, illuminating the space with a gentle yellow light that almost feels natural--its clean white curtains waft lightly in the false breeze. There's little equipment in the room at all, and what there is is tucked into a corner, half-hidden behind a wooden screen.

And in the center of the room, in a chair like a dentist's, with eyes closed, Katie.

"...Is that her?" Lance whispers.

"Yeah," Shiro says hoarsely, and steps forward. There's something wrapped around her head, tubes in her arms--a dozen wires at least extend from the back of the chair. He squats down to look at them.

"Don't touch anything," Lance warns from the other side of the chair. "I know what this is."

"Hm?" Shiro looks up.

"They have these at the hospital." Lance runs a hand along the side of the chair's reclined back. "They use them for patients with brain damage. If you turn it off wrong you could hurt her--or kill her."

Shiro lifts his hands and backs away immediately. "Do you know how to get her out?"

Lance smiles--a small, confident smile, not one of his big cocky ones, like he's not even aware he's doing it. His eyes are focused on the wires.

"Of course I do," he says, and gets to work.

Shiro approaches the chair cautiously, careful not to get in the way. He picks up Katie's hand. It's unresponsive, but warm.

"We'll get you out of here, Katie," he says, though he knows she can't hear. "Just like I promised." He squeezes her hand. "Keith will be so happy to see you."

"Almost there," Lance says. He stands and goes over to the equipment in the corner, flips a few switches. The device around Katie's head clicks open and her head lolls to the side.

"Almost..." He comes back and carefully pulls each tube and needle from her arms, and deftly bandages them both. He bends to double-check the chair.

"She's free," he says finally. "You'll have to carry her, though, she's not gonna wake up for a while."

"That's fine," says Shiro. He slides his arms carefully under her shoulders and knees, making sure his prosthetic doesn't catch on anything--she's upsettingly light when he lifts her.

 _I'm sorry,_ he thinks.

"Let's go," he says aloud, and Lance puts a hand on his shoulder, and together they make their way back out of the Center.

The lobby, when they finally reach it, is empty, but outside is a mess. Deactivated G.Al.R.A. lie strewn across the streets; among them are dozens of people in resistance fatigues, shouting and guiding the frightened citizens here and there. Kolivan must have brought in backup.

Indeed, one of the resistance fighters soon spots them, and shouts into the crowd. Kolivan himself soon emerges, also dressed for battle, and approaches.

He's frowning deeply. Shiro waits, a little nervous, as he surveys the three of them at length.

But all Kolivan says is simply, "Good work," before he turns and walks away.

"Was that the guy in charge?" Lance asks after a moment.

"Yes," Shiro says, a little shocked. It hadn't really occurred to him until just now that they've ended the war. It's over.

"I guess he's not actually mad, then?"

"...He's probably a little mad."

"What a hardass."

Shiro spots a familiar face through the crowd, then, and straightens up.

"Keith!" he shouts over the din. "Keith!"

Keith looks over; Shiro can't make out his expression at this distance but from the way he comes rushing through the crowd he must've recognized Katie. He jogs up to them, panting, and comes to a halt before Shiro with hands half outstretched.

"You found her," he breathes. "I'll... I'll take her. She's okay? _Katie_."

"She's fine, but she should probably get checked out at the hospital anyway," Lance says, neutrally, as Keith slides his arms in next to Shiro's and pulls her away.

"Yeah," says Keith. "Yeah, I'll take her there." His eyes stay fixed on her, but he does glance up at Shiro. "Thank you."

"I'll come find you later," says Shiro, but Keith is already walking away. Lance leans into his side and Shiro wraps an arm around him.

"We did good," Lance says.

"Yeah. We did," Shiro says. It's going to take a while to process--after everything that's happened, finally, he's made things right. Finally, the City is free, and Katie is safe.

"What now?"

Shiro takes a deep breath. "I dunno. I guess we'll have to help everyone through detox."

"...I should probably go help at the hospital, then," Lance says.

"I should probably talk to Kolivan," says Shiro.

Neither move. Chaos still reigns around them.

"I guess things are gonna be crazy for a while."

"Probably."

"And we'll both be busy."

"Yep."

"So I'd better move in with you soon, or else I'll barely see you at all."

Shiro chuckles and turns so he can wrap both arms around Lance. He leans down to kiss his forehead.

"I'm sure I can find time for you," he says.

Lance pouts up at him, but there's a sparkle in his eye. "Can you find the time to kiss me properly, then?"

He has to grin. "Of course," he says, and does.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tunglr @ [maternalcube](http://maternalcube.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> [ALSO HEY IM CORUNNING A MATT ZINE CHECK IT OUT](https://vldmattzine.tumblr.com)


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